January 18, 2008

The beauty and ugliness of the night

Dear Friends and Family in Christ,

Let us with this letter interrupt your most probably busy lives. First of all, we send our greetings to you on the occasion of New Year’s 2008. We pray to the everlasting God that His Grace and caring love continue to be upon you every moment of 2008 and beyond.

It was 11:20 p.m. on the night before New Year’s Eve. I was sitting on a chair at the front patio of the mission house, meditating on and preparing my sermon for New Year’s Eve worship on Monday night. The evening sea breeze was blowing gently, and the stars in the sky twinkled like diamonds on an overwhelming crown. The night so beautiful that my words cannot wholly describe it. I was there, alone, missing my beloved ones, away from home, but nevertheless blessed by my Lord through things that pass unnoticed by most people.

My little female cat named “Paca” was beside me rolling over and chasing her tail, then rushing toward the fence where despite a big jump she couldn't catch the night lizard that fled like crazy to get to a safe spot high on the wall. The hunting instinct of my kitty made me realize how, in this part of the world, life is a never-ending struggle for survival. From the very simple ways of living organisms to the most organized and complex social systems, “struggle and survival” here in my town is a sort of game in which the powerless persons become the prey of the ones who control political power, economic power, and social prestige. I felt then the load of irony on my spirit: so much beauty and so many blessings but in the midst of too much sin and disregard for the quality of human life.

At that time, the young moon was already on my right, 25 minutes on the clock toward West. It was looking at me as an ancient look-out, a guard keeping me from the absurd dynamic of this context, without law and compassion and with no limits on disrespect. On the other side of the fence, the noise in the bar came to me: voices of prostitutes on cell phones calling and receiving messages for engagements in the hours to come. Those women and the others who stood at the corner were perhaps honorable people, but they were also trapped in a seemingly hopeless destiny with no way out of their miserable lives.

The music and the dancing to the rhythm of Africans drums lasted late that night. The moon and the stars got to sleep but not so the ugliness of the dark side of my town. When the dawn was breaking and a new day was unfolding, the face of sin in the life of my neighborhood revealed itself, sick at heart without the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ.   

By the way, my sermon on New Year’s Eve was a successful one. The sanctuary was packed with a thousand worshipers. After the event I left the church overwhelmed at the amazing grace of God, who granted to our congregation the joy of the hope of a blessed New Year 2008. From the pulpit, I saw eyes filled with tears and the heads of the parishioners nodding affirmatively that the Holy Spirit was touching their lives.

Join us in prayer

• For the evangelistic ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Equatorial Guinea. Despite the obstacles and financial difficulties, our brothers and sisters in Christ here are taking sacrificial steps toward the renewal and revival ministry of the church and its mission in the name of Christ.
• Pray for Gloria’s health. She had to leave Equatorial Guinea on December 1 in order to have a surgery and therapeutic treatment on her Achilles tendon, which she tore accidentally while working at home. She is in Quito, Ecuador, now with her family and taking a period of sick leave until her left foot is better.

May God bless you for your companionship in the service to our Lord and Christ.

Andres and Gloria Garcia.
Bata Litoral, Equatorial Guinea
Africa

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 21